In 2018 Bidpath were approached by UK based British Medical Auctions who were looking for an innovative solution to a common problem for auctioneers; how to move away from a reliance on a third-party marketplace. Founded in December 2015, BMA is the UK’s fastest-growing medical auction house, but how has their choice of online bidding platform contributed to their enormous success?

MARKETPLACE VS PRIVATE LABEL

BMA was established in 2016 and, like many entrants to the market, they began by running their auctions using the technology provided by a marketplace platform. Whilst the marketplace technology they used worked well as a sales mechanism for medical equipment, the format did not do their business justice. As a highly experienced industry professional, founder and CEO Markus Grad had a fresh perspective on the online auction world; he was looking for a smarter solution.

With a proven track record of delivering multi-channel sales strategies to scale-up businesses working in the healthcare sector, he was quick to spot the limitations of auction marketplaces. Within 18 months of launch he was looking for a more innovative approach to achieve his growth objectives within the BMA business. In a market where the lines between an auction technology provider and a data driven marketplace are blurred, Grad wanted to make sure that he invested in the right platform to drive his business forward.

INVESTMENT IN TECHNOLOGY

After weighing up their options, BMA approached Bidpath to build a private label online bidding platform. With numerous auction houses already using the software across the globe, Grad put his trust in the Bidpath team to help him achieve his goals outside of the marketplace environment.

He had four main objectives for his online bidding solution:

  • Differentiate the BMA business and brand outside of a marketplace and in turn increase brand visibility in a crowded marketplace, which included their competitors.
  • No longer share their huge database of buyers compiled over years of trading and investment in their marketing activity.
  • Increase the traffic to their own website where they would have full control of the customer experience and the ability to convert browsers to buyers.
  • Streamline their internal operational processes.

Grad commented about working with the Bidpath team:“The team at Bidpath have vast knowledge of the auction industry and the technology required to help auctioneers empower their businesses. They understand our business and work tirelessly pre, during and post every auction we hold, whether that be live, timed or via the hybrid solution. They are not a supplier, but a trusted partner of ours”.

Now with a fully branded, mobile responsive bidding platform empowered by Bipdath technology, there is no doubt that BMA stand out as a market leader in the medical auction field. Bidpath provide BMA a suite of products to streamline internal operational processes, from mobile cataloguing tools to the latest technology to run Timed, Hybrid and Live auctions.

Bidpath president David Brindley commented on the collaboration with British Medical Auctions: “As a business Bidpath is focused on delivering world leading technology to companies that want to grow their business by owning their data and increasing their brand presence, so the synergies with BMA were obvious. It has been an exciting journey working with Markus and the BMA team to support them on their journey and as they continue to expand their secondary market enterprise Bidpath has responded. In March 2019 we proudly empowered the online bidding platform for French Medical Auctions, and we’re excited to see how we can support them to meet new challenges as they further expand their business in the years to come.”

 

Keywords: Data Ownership | Bespoke Design | Private Label | Streamline Workflow | SEO | Online Traffic | Live Auction | Timed Auction | Hybrid Auction | Cataloguing | Auction Technology